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America – home on IronCupcake

IronCupcake:Milwaukee

The IronCupcake competition was created by blogger Sandy Ploy (NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER), and Chef Jeff Reinke, both of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They discovered a shared love of baking with unusual ingredients, including bacon and chilli pepper.

Sandy and Jeff challenged one another to a bake-off, using Wasabi as the secret ingredient, and IronCupcake was born! The competition takes its name from the popular US television show Iron Chef, where challenging chefs compete against the ‘Iron Chefs’. Read more about IronCupcake’s American roots on Sandy’s blog.

IronCupcake:Leeds

Zoe’s IronCupcake:Leeds

The well-loved Leeds version began in September 2009, when cupcake-lover Zoe Biscombe stumbled across the competition on the internet. The first event attracted only a handful of people, but it was not long before IronCupcake:Leeds moved to the Adelphi pub due to overwhelming demand for tickets!

IronCupcake:Leeds now attracts around 20 Bakers and 50 judges every month, with a fantastic variety of themes and flavours. We’ve seen cupcakes with bacon, chilli pepper and Wasabi before, along with many other weird and wonderful combinations! But it’s not always about a secret ingredient – previous themes include Death by Chocolate, Cupcakes for Men, Savoury, Retro Sweets and many many more!

After nearly four years, thousands of followers and a whopping 44 competitions later, Zoe took decision to resign as IronCupcake Queen to concentrate on her Maths degree (and have her Sunday nights back!)

The next chapter for IronCupcake:Leeds

Charlotte plus Angry Birds wedding cake

But IronCupcake:Leeds couldn’t simply stop – Bakers would be crying into their cupcakes, and Eaters would go hungry! So Zoe’s cousin Charlotte offered to take over the competition and here we are today. Charlotte’s right hand men at IronCupcake competitions are her boyfriend Jonny and best friend Kaz – feel free to ask them any questions you have on the night!

We’d like to say a huge ‘THANK YOU’ to all our wonderful Bakers and Eaters for attending IronCupcake:Leeds month after month. It really wouldn’t be the same competition without you. A room full of strangers, united by a love of cupcakes, is a wonderful sight to behold and long may it continue!